{
 "jurisdiction_id": "FR",
 "jurisdiction": "France",
 "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/france/",
 "generator": "render_jid v13.3.0",
 "date_modified": "2026-08-17",
 "schema_version": "crypto-v2.0.0",
 "counts": {
  "modules": 8,
  "sourced_findings": 25,
  "source_register": 52
 },
 "modules": [
  {
   "code": "crypto_licensing",
   "name": "Crypto Licensing",
   "confidence": null,
   "moved_this_cycle": false,
   "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/france/#crypto-licensing-crypto-licensing",
   "standing_position": "France's crypto licensing regime is anchored in Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA), administered domestically by the AMF against the backdrop of the 2019 PACTE Law's original PSAN/DASP registration regime. The AMF requires CASP authorisation under MiCA Articles 59/60 before any entity may lawfully provide crypto-asset services in France or across the EU; this core authorisation-requirement claim was re-anchored this cycle from a T4 news source to ESMA's own T1 MiCA overview page following a Challenger flag, with confidence correspondingly adjusted from Confirmed to Probable under the two-anchor Confirmed standard. The EU-wide MiCA Article 143 grandfathering period, which had allowed pre-existing PSAN-registered entities to continue operating without a full CASP licence, expired on 1 July 2026; unauthorised providers are now required to wind down EU client-facing activity, per ESMA's own statement on the end of transitional periods, corroborated to Confirmed. The pre-MiCA PACTE Law national registration regime for digital asset service providers remains the historical foundation of this framework, confirmed via a Bank for International Settlements republication of a Banque de France statement. Concrete licensing activity continues under the new regime: SwissBorg's French entity, BlockNodes SAS, obtained full MiCA CASP authorisation from the AMF covering custody, execution, transfer/placing, portfolio management and advice services, with the grant date corrected this cycle from 12 March 2026 (press release) to 5 March 2026, matching the AMF's own white-list register entry.",
   "findings": [
    {
     "finding": "CASP authorisation under MiCA Articles 59/60 before lawfully providing crypto-asset services in France and the EU",
     "instrument_type": "regulator",
     "source": "AMF",
     "source_url": "https://www.esma.europa.eu/esmas-activities/digital-finance-and-innovation/markets-crypto-assets-regulation-mica",
     "source_tier": "1",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "EU-wide transitional period allowing pre-existing PSAN-registered entities to operate without a MiCA CASP licence ended 1 July 2026; unauthorised providers must wind down EU client-facing activity",
     "instrument_type": "regulation",
     "source": "MiCA Article 143 grandfathering regime",
     "source_url": "https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2026-04/ESMA75-113276571-1679_Statement_on_the_end_of_transitional_periods_under_MiCA.pdf",
     "source_tier": "1",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "a dedicated national registration/licensing regime for digital asset service providers (PSAN/DASP)",
     "instrument_type": "law",
     "source": "France (PACTE Law 2019)",
     "source_url": "https://www.bis.org/review/r260331b.htm",
     "source_tier": "2",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "full MiCA CASP authorisation from the AMF, covering custody, execution, transfer/placing, portfolio management and advice services",
     "instrument_type": "exchange",
     "source": "SwissBorg / BlockNodes SAS",
     "source_url": "https://www.amf-france.org/en/warnings/white-lists/daspcasp/blocknodes-sas",
     "source_tier": "1",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "code": "token_classification",
   "name": "Token Classification",
   "confidence": null,
   "moved_this_cycle": false,
   "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/france/#token-classification-token-classification",
   "standing_position": "France applies MiCA's tripartite crypto-asset taxonomy -- asset-referenced tokens, e-money tokens and other/utility crypto-assets -- as its operative classification framework, layered atop the PACTE Law's earlier ICO visa regime. The ACPR requires e-money token issuers, including SG-FORGE, Circle Internet Financial Europe and Schuman Financial, to hold electronic money institution authorisation and comply with MiCA Title IV, per ESMA's Interim MiCA EMT White Paper register. The PACTE-era AMF ICO visa regime continues to restrict eligible public offerings to utility tokens that do not qualify as financial instruments, though this claim's sourcing remains below the materiality-4 chase-protocol threshold and rests on a single trade-press anchor pending a stronger primary source. For instruments at the classification boundary, ESMA directs national competent authorities to apply a substance-over-form, three-criteria test to determine when a crypto-asset qualifies as a MiFID II transferable security and therefore falls outside MiCA's scope. NFTs -- crypto-assets that are unique and non-fungible with other crypto-assets -- are excluded from MiCA's scope under Article 2, per the regulation's own text.",
   "findings": [
    {
     "finding": "e-money token issuers (SG-FORGE, Circle Internet Financial Europe, Schuman Financial) to be authorised as electronic money institutions and comply with MiCA Title IV",
     "instrument_type": "regulator",
     "source": "ACPR",
     "source_url": "https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2024-12/EMTWP.csv",
     "source_tier": "1",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "public offerings of utility tokens not qualifying as financial instruments",
     "instrument_type": "regulation",
     "source": "AMF ICO visa regime (PACTE Law)",
     "source_url": "https://www.theblock.co/linked/51252/french-regulator-approves-utility-token-ico",
     "source_tier": "4",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "NCAs to apply a substance-over-form three-criteria test determining when a crypto-asset qualifies as a MiFID II transferable security outside MiCA scope",
     "instrument_type": "regulator",
     "source": "ESMA",
     "source_url": "https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2025-03/ESMA75453128700-1323_Guidelines_on_the_conditions_and_criteria_for_the_qualification_of_CAs_as_FIs_FR.pdf",
     "source_tier": "1",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "crypto-assets that are unique and non-fungible with other crypto-assets (NFTs) from its scope, per Article 2",
     "instrument_type": "regulation",
     "source": "MiCA (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114)",
     "source_url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32023R1114",
     "source_tier": "1",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "code": "on_chain_activity_regime",
   "name": "On-Chain Activity Regime",
   "confidence": null,
   "moved_this_cycle": false,
   "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/france/#on-chain-activity-regime-on-chain-activity-regime",
   "standing_position": "On-chain activity oversight in France remains split between a settled custodial perimeter and an acknowledged gap for non-custodial activity. ESMA's Q&A 2067 addresses the treatment of staking-as-a-service offered by authorised CASPs as a custody-adjacent obligation, though this guidance page carries no independent publication date and the module remains thin on evidence. More significantly, ESMA and EBA's own Article 142 MiCA Joint Report finds that self-custodial wallets and DeFi lending/staking protocols are not generally subject to MiCA authorisation or AML/CFT requirements absent an identifiable intermediary -- a negative finding that leaves a genuine, EU-wide regulatory gap for non-custodial DeFi rather than a France-specific omission. Separately, the Banque de France, French Treasury and AMF have formed a joint strategic group dedicated to DLT and tokenisation innovation; this is a non-normative institutional development and does not yet constitute binding tokenisation-specific rules.",
   "findings": [
    {
     "finding": "treatment of staking-as-a-service offered by authorised CASPs within MiCA custody-adjacent obligations via an open Q&A (2067)",
     "instrument_type": "guidance",
     "source": "ESMA",
     "source_url": "https://www.esma.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/206843",
     "source_tier": "1",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "self-custodial wallets and DeFi lending/staking protocols are not generally subject to MiCA authorisation or AML/CFT requirements absent an identifiable intermediary, leaving a regulatory gap for non-custodial DeFi",
     "instrument_type": "guidance",
     "source": "ESMA/EBA (Article 142 MiCA Joint Report)",
     "source_url": "https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2025-01/ESMA75-453128700-1391_Joint_Report_on_recent_developments_in_crypto-assets__Art_142_MiCA_.pdf",
     "source_tier": "1",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "a joint strategic group dedicated to DLT and tokenisation innovation, without yet constituting binding tokenisation-specific rules",
     "instrument_type": "regulator",
     "source": "Banque de France / French Treasury / AMF",
     "source_url": "https://www.bis.org/review/r260331b.htm",
     "source_tier": "2",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "code": "stablecoin_regime",
   "name": "Stablecoin Regime",
   "confidence": null,
   "moved_this_cycle": false,
   "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/france/#stablecoin-regime-stablecoin-regime",
   "standing_position": "France operates an active euro/dollar e-money-token stablecoin market under MiCA's Title III/IV framework and the pre-existing EMD2 regime. The ACPR requires EMT issuance in France to carry electronic money institution authorisation, as evidenced by SG-FORGE's EURCV/USDCV and Schuman Financial's EURØP licences; this materiality-5 binding claim, along with the related reserve-backing and redemption-right claims, rested solely on trade-press or price-tracker sourcing and has been downgraded this cycle from Confirmed to Probable pending stronger primary ACPR/EBA anchoring, consistent with the thin-evidence-module sourcing bar applied to stablecoin_regime. SG-FORGE's EURCV and USDCV tokens are represented as backed by fully segregated fiat reserves held at regulated custodian banks -- Société Générale for EUR, BNY Mellon for USD -- consistent with MiCA's EMT reserve rules, and EURCV holders in the EEA are represented as entitled to redeem tokens at par value directly from SG-FORGE or via approved partners, in line with MiCA Article 49's redemption-right requirements. Separately, Banque de France leadership has advocated strengthening MiCA to restrict the use of non-bank and non-EU stablecoins for everyday payments, citing counterparty-risk concerns; this remains a policy proposal with no enacted instrument behind it.",
   "findings": [
    {
     "finding": "EMT issuance in France to be authorised as an electronic money institution, as evidenced by SG-FORGE (EURCV/USDCV) and Schuman Financial (EURØP) licences",
     "instrument_type": "regulator",
     "source": "ACPR",
     "source_url": "https://www.theblock.co/post/328075/schuman-financial-debuts-europ-a-mica-compliant-euro-stablecoin",
     "source_tier": "4",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "fully segregated fiat reserves held at regulated custodian banks (Société Générale for EUR, BNY Mellon for USD), consistent with MiCA EMT reserve rules",
     "instrument_type": "issuer",
     "source": "SG-FORGE / EURCV, USDCV",
     "source_url": "https://www.coindesk.com/price/eurcv",
     "source_tier": "4",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "redeem tokens at par value directly from SG-FORGE or via approved partners, in line with MiCA Article 49 redemption-right requirements",
     "instrument_type": "none",
     "source": "EURCV holders (EEA)",
     "source_url": "https://www.coindesk.com/price/eurcv",
     "source_tier": "4",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "strengthening MiCA to restrict use of non-bank/non-EU stablecoins for everyday payments, citing counterparty-risk concerns; a policy proposal, not yet enacted law",
     "instrument_type": "regulator",
     "source": "Banque de France leadership",
     "source_url": "https://www.bis.org/review/r260331b.htm",
     "source_tier": "2",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "code": "consumer_protection",
   "name": "Consumer Protection",
   "confidence": null,
   "moved_this_cycle": false,
   "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/france/#consumer-protection-consumer-protection",
   "standing_position": "Consumer protection for French crypto-asset users rests on AMF-administered custody, complaint-handling and disclosure obligations layered onto MiCA. The AMF requires DASPs/CASPs licensed in France to maintain custody arrangements segregating client assets from the firm's own assets, prohibiting use of client assets without express prior consent; following a Challenger flag, this materiality-5 binding claim was re-anchored from a sole T4 trade-press source to ESMA's T1 MiCA overview page, with confidence correspondingly downgraded to Probable. Licensed French digital-asset custodians are also required to maintain a claims/complaint-handling procedure, compensating clients where the custodian cannot restore control of client assets -- a claim likewise downgraded to Probable this cycle for resting solely on a T4 source. On disclosure, ESMA directs EU and French consumers to verify a CASP's authorisation status in the ESMA Interim MiCA Register before investing, since MiCA protections apply only to the specific authorised legal entity. One area remains genuinely unsettled: French lawmakers have not finalised applicable rules for crypto-related social media influencer promotions, a residual grey area within the broader DASP/CASP consumer-protection framework that was last confirmed unsettled in 2023 reporting and has not been reconfirmed this pass.",
   "findings": [
    {
     "finding": "DASPs/CASPs licensed in France to maintain custody provisions segregating client assets from the firm's own assets, prohibited from using client assets without express prior consent",
     "instrument_type": "regulator",
     "source": "AMF",
     "source_url": "https://www.esma.europa.eu/esmas-activities/digital-finance-and-innovation/markets-crypto-assets-regulation-mica",
     "source_tier": "1",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "a claims/complaint handling procedure, compensating clients where the custodian cannot restore control of client assets",
     "instrument_type": "custodian",
     "source": "Licensed French digital asset custodians",
     "source_url": "https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2019/12/26/crypto-firms-can-now-apply-for-a-license-in-france/",
     "source_tier": "4",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "EU/French consumers to verify a CASP's authorisation status in the ESMA Interim MiCA Register before investing, given MiCA protections apply only to the specific authorised legal entity",
     "instrument_type": "guidance",
     "source": "ESMA",
     "source_url": "https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2026-04/ESMA75-113276571-1679_Statement_on_the_end_of_transitional_periods_under_MiCA.pdf",
     "source_tier": "1",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "applicable rules for crypto-related social media influencer promotions, leaving this a residual grey area within the broader DASP/CASP consumer-protection framework",
     "instrument_type": "none",
     "source": "French lawmakers",
     "source_url": "https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/05/17/fleeing-us-crypto-firms-welcome-french-regulator-says",
     "source_tier": "4",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "code": "tax_treatment",
   "name": "Tax Treatment",
   "confidence": null,
   "moved_this_cycle": false,
   "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/france/#tax-treatment-tax-treatment",
   "standing_position": "French crypto-asset taxation combines a long-settled capital-gains basis with newly operative cross-border reporting obligations. The French Council of State ruled that occasional individual investors' crypto-asset disposal gains are taxed as capital gains on movable property rather than at the higher industrial/commercial or non-commercial profits rates; this foundational 2018/2019 ruling remains the operative basis, though the current precise flat-tax percentage has not been reconfirmed against a live primary source this pass. More recently, a DGFiP-administered French DAC8 implementing decree requires crypto-asset service providers operating in France to conduct due diligence and report user transaction data under CGI Articles 1649 AC bis to sexies, with declarations covering 2026 transactions due from 2027; a Challenger flag has surfaced an unresolved legal-instrument attribution question, contending that these CGI articles were in fact created by Article 54 of the Loi de finances pour 2025 (Law No. 2025-127 of 14 February 2025), with the December 2025 decree serving only as an implementing instrument rather than the primary transposition vehicle -- this has been annotated but not mutated, as the challenging sources are T4-only against a T1-sourced original claim, and awaits verification against the statute text. Separately, the underlying EU instrument, Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226 (DAC8), requires crypto-asset service providers to bring reporting systems, customer due-diligence processes and internal controls into full compliance by 1 July of the applicable year; this claim was downgraded to Probable this cycle for resting solely on a T4 source in a thin-evidence module.",
   "findings": [
    {
     "finding": "occasional individual investors' crypto-asset disposal gains are taxed as capital gains on movable property rather than at higher industrial/commercial or non-commercial profits rates",
     "instrument_type": "case",
     "source": "French Council of State (Conseil d'État)",
     "source_url": "https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2018/04/27/france-is-cutting-the-tax-rate-for-retail-crypto-traders/",
     "source_tier": "4",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "crypto-asset service providers operating in France to conduct due diligence and report user transaction data under CGI Articles 1649 AC bis to sexies, with declarations covering 2026 transactions due from 2027",
     "instrument_type": "decision",
     "source": "DGFiP / French DAC8 implementing decree",
     "source_url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/PDF/?uri=NIM:202507313",
     "source_tier": "1",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "crypto-asset service providers to bring reporting systems, customer due-diligence processes and internal controls into full compliance by 1 July of the applicable year",
     "instrument_type": "regulation",
     "source": "DAC8 (Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226)",
     "source_url": "https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/12/24/eu-s-crypto-tax-reporting-starts-in-january-with-threat-of-asset-seizure",
     "source_tier": "4",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "code": "cross_border_transfer",
   "name": "Cross-Border Transfer",
   "confidence": null,
   "moved_this_cycle": false,
   "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/france/#cross-border-transfer-cross-border-transfer",
   "standing_position": "France's cross-border crypto framework runs on two rails: MiCA's EU passporting/reverse-solicitation perimeter and DAC8's tax-information-exchange reporting. Non-EU CASPs are prohibited from lawfully providing MiCA-regulated crypto-asset services to, or soliciting, French/EU clients, except under narrow reverse-solicitation, per ESMA's public statement on the end of the MiCA transitional period. Conversely, an AMF-authorised CASP benefits from EU-wide passporting rights, allowing cross-border provision of crypto-asset services without separate host-state authorisation; this materiality-4 binding claim was downgraded to Probable this cycle for resting solely on a T4 source in a thin-evidence module. On the tax side, the French DAC8-implementing decree requires reporting crypto-asset service providers to identify and report on crypto-asset users linked to partner states or non-EU territories with an information-exchange agreement -- this claim shares the same legal-instrument attribution question flagged in tax_treatment regarding whether the December 2025 decree or the February 2025 Loi de finances is the true transposition vehicle.",
   "findings": [
    {
     "finding": "lawfully providing MiCA-regulated crypto-asset services to, or soliciting, French/EU clients, except under narrow reverse-solicitation",
     "instrument_type": "none",
     "source": "Non-EU CASPs",
     "source_url": "https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2026-06/ESMA75-113276571-1710_Public_Statement_MiCA_transitional_period_ends.pdf",
     "source_tier": "1",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "EU-wide passporting rights allowing cross-border provision of crypto-asset services without separate host-state authorisation",
     "instrument_type": "regulator",
     "source": "AMF-authorised CASP",
     "source_url": "https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/04/24/french-regulator-floats-fast-track-registration-for-incumbents-as-mica-rules-bed-in",
     "source_tier": "4",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    },
    {
     "finding": "reporting crypto-asset service providers to identify and report on crypto-asset users linked to partner states/non-EU territories with an information-exchange agreement",
     "instrument_type": "decision",
     "source": "French DAC8-implementing decree",
     "source_url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/PDF/?uri=NIM:202507313",
     "source_tier": "1",
     "retrieved_at": "2026-08-03"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "code": "aml_cft_regime",
   "name": "AML/CFT Regime",
   "confidence": null,
   "moved_this_cycle": false,
   "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/france/#aml-cft-regime-aml-cft-regime",
   "standing_position": "AML/CFT supervision of French crypto-asset service providers -- covering KYC/CDD, the travel rule, SAR/STR reporting and sanctions screening -- is exercised jointly by TRACFIN and the ACPR. This module is a subscribed surface consumed from the Financial Integrity Monitor's own aml_ctf analysis under fleet subscription doctrine; no original claims are produced within this crypto baseline, and this narrative note documents that boundary rather than a completeness gap.",
   "findings": []
  }
 ]
}